states, while the Big Ten covers 14 states now that Washington, Oregon, and California have been added. If you are worried about adverse federal legislation and want the Senate to be able to block it, you realistically need at least 26 states represented. The political objective is to assemble enough “college football–friendly” senators to form a reliable blocking coalition. It is highly uncertain whether California’s senators would go to bat for USC and UCLA, given how those moves affected other in‑state schools. Oregon and Washington might be somewhat more sympathetic to Oregon State and Washington State, but even that is far from guaranteed. Florida State and Clemson are valuable properties and will find homes in the P2 regardless, but from this specific political‑coverage perspective they are somewhat redundant. This puts Virginia and North Carolina at the center of the expansion logic. Each state has two linchpin public universities, and the companion schools are not a substantial drop‑off from the premier brands. In Virginia, it is essentially a coin flip among the top options. In North Carolina, NC State is a notch below UNC as a brand, but far more attractive in relative terms than Oregon State or Washington State. At present, there are 23 states whose senators should be unambiguously pro–college football. Adding Virginia and North Carolina via UNC, UVA, Virginia Tech, and NC State would raise that number to 25. Arizona is a plausible additional target. The Arizona schools appear to be better television and political draws than Kansas and Kansas State. After (or alongside) the Arizona schools, a logical next move is to bring in Cal and Stanford. Georgia Tech may also be pulled in to shore up support from Georgia’s senators. Georgia is heavily dominated by UGA, but you could still imagine a disgruntled senator scenario akin to Ann Richards going to bat for Baylor as Texas governor, which suggests conferences may want a bit of cushion via an extra in‑state addition. This political logic is why I feel reasonably optimistic about VT's chances—less because of administrative competence and more because of structural incentives. Political science perspectives would be welcome here. My base prediction is that the “Magnificent Seven” (FSU, Miami, Clemson, UNC, VT, UVA, and NC State) ultimately land in the P2. Georgia Tech likely gets added to reinforce Georgia; Arizona and Arizona State, and/or Cal and Stanford, round out the next wave. If you want to lock in 26 pairs of senators, Arizona is the most likely route. Utah and BYU are problematic: they are constantly at odds with each other, and BYU is private. If you prioritize political protection (first objective) and avoid excessively dilutive companion schools (second objective), Virginia and North Carolina look like the highest‑probability additions. I expect there will ultimately be 10 additions to the P2, taking the total from 34 to at least 44: the Mag 7, Georgia Tech, Arizona, and Arizona State. That level of consolidation likely pushes Notre Dame to join rather than risk being disadvantaged again. Notre Dame would probably want Stanford and Cal attached, which pushes the count of “locked‑in” states to 27. At that point, Kansas and Duke are logical additional picks (or Utah instead of one of them). A 48‑team P2 looks like a plausible upper bound. West Virginia is a potential dark horse. WVU occupies one slot but brings two senators, which is attractive if the conferences prefer not to add the Arizona schools. If the Big Ten and SEC can coexist rather than cannibalize each other, they jointly need to lock down roughly 27 pairs of senators to dictate future legislation. If 60 total votes are required and the filibuster is in play, then the Mag 7 plus various other combinations can reach the blocking threshold. Under a filibuster scenario, some otherwise unexpected teams—WVU, Oregon State, Washington State—could enter the picture, which sounds far‑fetched but is not impossible. There are also potential leverage plays. Could Iowa’s, Georgia’s, or Kentucky’s senators insist on Iowa State, Georgia Tech, or Louisville as conditions? Assuming Colorado can be admitted without bringing Colorado State, Colorado might be squeezed in on similar logic to WVU. My guess is that Oregon’s and Washington’s senators will not block an expansion that disadvantages Oregon State and Washington State; that was implicitly the political deal when Oregon and Washington were accepted into the Big Ten. In this scenario, you would have 27 pairs of senators and seven additional teams (41 total) but still need three more pairs of senators to feel secure. If the filibuster is relevant, expansion within the SEC (to 16) and Big Ten (to 18) moves the combined total closer to 48. It is difficult to reach 30 pairs of senators without having roughly 48 total P2 teams, which implies adding about 14 new members. As always, politics resembles watching sausage being made, and the final alignment will be messy. Within that messy process, Virginia Tech looks particularly well positioned if the numbers grow, which I think they will. ** Edited by TDVick at 7/3/2026, 5:13:40 PM ** Edited by TDVick at 7/3/2026, 5:21:44 PM